Does Oppression Cause Suicide Bombing?

Some overprivileged Muslims support a culture of death, while impoverished Tibetans celebrate life

As suicide bombings increase in Iraq, in Saudi Arabia, and in Israel, more and more people have come to believe that this tactic is a result of desperation. They see a direct link between oppression, occupation, poverty, and humiliation on the one hand, and a willingness to blow oneself up for the cause on the other hand. It follows from this premise that the obvious remedy for suicide bombing is to address its root cause -- namely, our oppression of the terrorists.

But the underlying premise is demonstrably false: There is no such link as a matter of fact or history. Suicide bombing is a tactic that is selected by privileged, educated, and wealthy elitists because it has proven successful.

Moreover, even some of the suicide bombers themselves defy the stereotype of the impoverished victims of occupation driven to desperate measures by American or Israeli oppression. Remember the 9/11 bombers, several of whom were university students and none of whom were oppressed by the US. They were dispatched by a Saudi millionaire named Osama bin Laden.

Bin Laden has now become the hero of many other upper-class Saudis who are volunteering to become shahids (martyrs) in Iraq, Israel, and other parts of the globe.

Majid al-Enezi, a Saudi student training to become a computer technician, recently changed career plans and decided to become a martyr; he crossed over into Iraq, where he died. His brother Abdullah celebrated that decision. "People are calling all the time to congratulate us, crying from happiness and envy. There are many young men who wish they could cross over into Iraq, but they can't. Thank God he was able to."

These rich kids glorify the culture of suicide, even in distant places. As Tufful al-Oqbi, a student at the elite King Saud University, described this situation, young people are wearing T-shirts with bin Laden's picture on them just the way people used to wear pictures of Che Guevara, the Cuban revolutionary. According to a recent news account, wealthy women students sport Osama bin Laden T-shirts under their enveloping abayas to show their approval for his calls to resist the United States.

Why do these overprivileged and well-educated young men and women support this culture of death, while impoverished and oppressed Tibetans continue to celebrate life despite their occupation by China for half a century?

Why have other oppressed people throughout history not resorted to suicide bombings and terrorism? The answer lies in differences among the elite leadership of various groups and causes. The leaders of Islamic radical causes, especially the Wahhabis, advocate and incite suicide terrorism, while the leaders of other causes advocate different means.

Recall Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., whose people were truly oppressed but who advocated non-violent means of resistance. It is the leaders who send suicide bombers to blow themselves up. No suicide bomber ever sent himself to be blown up.

The bombers accept death because they have been incited into a frenzy of hatred by imams preaching "Kill the infidels." Sheikh Muhammad Sayed Tantawi, the leading Islamic scholar at the elite Al-Azhar University in Cairo (which is not occupied), has declared that martyrdom operations - which means suicide bombings -- are the highest form of jihad and an Islamic commandment.

Even more mainstream role models, such as Yasser Arafat's wife, who lives in a multimillion-dollar residence in Paris, has said that if she had a son, she would want him to become a suicide bomber because there is no greater honor than to become a martyr.

The blame lies squarely at the feet of the elitists who exploit these young children, use them, and eventually kill them.

Young children, some as young as 12 and 13, are incited and seduced into strapping bombs around themselves by these older and better-educated elitist leaders. The children are promised virgins in heaven, praise and money for their families here on Earth, and posters portraying them as rock stars. It is an irresistible combination for some, and the blame lies squarely at the feet of the elitists who exploit them, use them, and eventually kill them.

There is absolutely no evidence to support the claim of a direct relationship between occupation and suicide bombing. If anything, occupation makes it more difficult to launch successful terrorist attacks. This is not to argue for occupation; it is to separate the arguments regarding occupation from the claim that it is the fact of occupation, and the oppression it brings, that causes suicide bombing.

Indeed, were Israel to end its occupation of Gaza and most of the West Bank (as I have long believed it should), it is likely that terrorism would actually increase as terrorist commanders secure more freedom to plan and implement terrorist actions. The same might well be true in Iraq, were the United States to pick up and run.

The time has come to address the real root cause of suicide bombing: elitist incitement by certain religious and political leaders who are creating a culture of death and exploiting the ambiguous teachings of an important religion.

Abu Hamza -- the cleric who tutored Richard Reid, the convicted shoe bomber -- recently urged a large crowd to embrace death. Islamic young people are in love with death, claim some influential imams; but it is these leaders who are arranging the marriages between the children and the bomb belts.

Perhaps, now that suicide bombers have attacked Saudi Arabia, responsible Islamic leaders will better understand that it is their people who will be the ultimate victims of this tactically imposed culture of death.

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About the Author

Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter professor of law at Harvard Law School, served as an attorney in several high-profile court cases, and is a sought-after commentator on the Arab–Israeli conflict. He is the author of some 25 books, including The Case for Israel.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 9

(9)
David M. Frost,
June 8, 2004 12:00 AM

No innocents?

Mr. Puglisi:
You wrote that "The reason this whole situation is a problem is because there are no innocents, and it disingenous to suggest there are."

Recently, as you are no doubt aware, a couple of "martyrs" shot a pregnant women and her young daughters at point blank range, and videotaped their adventure. I'm curious-- what would the little girls in question have had to do in order to qualify as "innocents" in your book?

(8)
ARI L,
June 6, 2004 12:00 AM

Dear Al Puglisi

Have you seen the documentary, Relentless? If not, you owe it to yourself to see the other side of the story. Also, Dershowitz doesn't claim the homicide bombers are all from wealthy families. He doesn't state percentages, but neither does the footage you've seen.

(7)
Jose Nigrin,
June 4, 2004 12:00 AM

Suicide bombers

The existence and explotation, of suicide bombers, is the ultimate desperate attempt, of the Palestinians, for their innability to cope with the Jewish State prescence.

(6)
al puglisi,
June 2, 2004 12:00 AM

evidence

One of the best ways to promulgate a lie is to include enough truth to make it believable. Dr. Dershowitz does this here. While it is true that some of the suicide bombers are from wealthy families, it does not follow necessarily that they all are. Perhaps this argument might fly with some, but no longer with me. I have seen the video footage of what is happening on the west bank, and on the gaza strip, video after video of people living in filth and dirt and in fear for their lives daily. I have seen footage of children gunned down in the streets by bullets indiscriminately sprayed about by the Israeli army. The Brits are currently investigating the murder of an English journalist, gunned down under a white flag by the Israeli army, ostensibly because he was a journalist who was filming all that I have described. The reason this whole situation is a problem is because there are no innocents, and it disingenous to suggest there are.

(5)
Richard Wansbrough,
June 1, 2004 12:00 AM

Understanding Suicide Bombing

Gentlemen
Thanks for expanding my knowlege of this crime. I have found it difficult to believe the promised rewards of Heaven and their concept.
It is too bad that wars are fought over religion, dictators and a marriod of other things.
I just hope and pray that GOD will soon put a stop to this.
Sincerely,
Richard Wansbrough

(4)
Anonymous,
May 31, 2004 12:00 AM

With friends like these...

If terrorism would most likely increase upon withdrawal, WHY "should" Israel withdraw???

Indeed, "occupation" is bad and we should all oppose it ideologically. But it is wholly inappropriate to refer to this land as "occupied" -- as if it doesn't really belong to us, we are simply temporary oppressors.

What could have been a good article with a strong message (that human beings can choose right and wrong even under duress) fumbles over itself by implying that Israel is in fact oppressing and occupying. Some "case for israel"!

(3)
Joe Whitehead,
May 31, 2004 12:00 AM

Peter Gaffney is wrong

All too many times "the left" or "do gooders" just don't get! The Palestinians are murders by heart due to their "kill every Jew" religion, and not because anything that the Israelis might have done other than just being Jews! All too many times I hear how if the Israels would just do this, or if they would just do that, then these poor, poor Palestinian would learn to be our good neighbors. Damn it, they will murder you and your family at any givin chance in the name of their god Allah. They have not kept one promise of their end of Oslo, and they will not stop until all of Israel is in their hands! You are a complete fool to think any differently. It don't make a "DAMN" what you give them or how nice you treat them, they are after your blood and your land, that their god maybe honored!

(2)
Peter Gaffney,
May 30, 2004 12:00 AM

Many Midwives to Martyrdom

I wish this article had not undercut its real message with its misleading either/or premise. There are many root causes of terror, and the poverty, oppression and hopelessness of Palestinians is certainly one of them. Regardless of whether it will stop suicide bombings, Palestinians deserve freedom, justice and economic opportunity.

But more attention definitely should be focused on the culture of terrorism Dr. Dershowitz describes. Those who praise suicide bombing should not be welcome in civilized society. And the United States should be putting pressure on its allies in the Arab world to more forcefully denounce terrorist attacks on Israel, as well as those who call for such attacks.

From the peace and (relative) security of America, it's hard to criticize Israel, but I can't help thinking that it has never acknowledged its responsibility for the plight of the Palestinians or demonstrated a genuine commitment to a just solution. And as long as Israel violates human rights and commits reprehensible acts of violence against innocent people, it will inspire support and sympathy (idiotically misplaced and thoroughly despicable though it may be) for suicide bombers and their ilk (just as the U.S. does when it behaves badly).

When Israel bulldozes the home of a terrorist's family or blows up a two-year-old in an assassination attempt on a Hamas leader, it tells the world that it has contempt for human rights and human lives, thus helping to perpetuate a climate in which Israel is widely hated -- without justification but not without cause -- by the rest of the world. Like the U.S., Israel is doomed to be held to a higher standard of conduct than other countries. It must consider the P.R. affect of its actions (IF it wishes to improve its image, that is).

I don't see how the Peace Process can get going again without the U.S. getting involved, and I think Kerry --assuming he's elected, which I think we'd all better hope he is -- will be much more engaged than Bush has been. I think the biggest obstacle to peace is not Israeli intransigence but rather the corruption and utter moral bankruptcy of the Palestinian Authority. These people (or many of them) are just like the IRA and the Ulster Unionists in Northern Ireland -- gangsters whose identity and lifestyle depends on the conflict continuing. In a way, they are their own people's worst enemy -- and another of the parties responsible for the bombings. I know people may disagree with some of what I've said here, but now I'm really going to go out on a limb and say right out that I really don't completely trust Yassir Arafat to do the right thing. The first thing the U.S. needs to do is somehow make sure that the Palestinian people are represented by somebody who really has their interests at heart. (I don't have any idea how this can be accomplished. I'm beginnng to think this whole conflict may be more difficult to resolve that I first thought.)

(1)
Anonymous,
May 30, 2004 12:00 AM

very good article

Clearly written and very honest. However, I would like to know why Mr. Dershowitz believes Israeli should withdraw from Gaza?

I’m wondering what happened to the House of David. After the end of the Kingdom of Judah was there any memory what happened to King David’s descendants? Is there any family today which can trace its lineage to David – and whom the Messiah might descend from?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Thank you for your good question. There is no question that King David’s descendants are alive today. God promised David through Nathan the Prophet that the monarchy would never depart from his family (II Samuel 7:16). The prophets likewise foretell the ultimate coming of the Messiah, descendant of David, the “branch which will extend from the trunk of Jesse,” who will restore the Davidic dynasty and Israel’s sovereignty (Isaiah 11:1, see also Jeremiah 33:15, Ezekiel 37:25).

King David’s initial dynasty came to an end with the destruction of the First Temple and the Babylonian Exile. In an earlier expulsion King Jehoiachin was exiled by Nebuchadnezzar, together with his family and several thousand of the Torah scholars and higher classes (II Kings 24:14-16). Eleven years later the Temple was destroyed. The final king of Judah, Jehoiachin’s uncle Zedekiah, was too exiled to Babylonia. He was blinded and his children were executed (II Kings 25:7).

However, Jehoiachin and his descendants did survive in exile. Babylonian cuneiform records actually attest to Jehoiachin and his family receiving food rations from the government. I Chronicles 3:17:24 likewise lists several generations of his descendants (either 9 or 15 generations, depending on the precise interpretation of the verses), which would have extended well into the Second Temple era. (One was the notable Zerubbabel, grandson of Jehoiachin, who was one of the leaders of the return to Zion and the construction the Second Temple.)

In Babylonia, the leader of the Jewish community was known as the Reish Galuta (Aramaic for “head of the exile,” called the Exilarch in English). This was a hereditary position recognized by the Babylonian government. Its bearer was generally quite wealthy and powerful, well-connected to the government and wielding much authority over Babylonian Jewry.

According to Jewish tradition, the Exilarch was a direct descendant of Jehoiachin. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 5a) understands Genesis 49:10 – Jacob’s blessing to Judah that “the staff would not be removed from Judah” – as a reference to the Exilarchs in Babylonia, “who would chastise Israel with the staff,” i.e., who exercised temporal authority over the Jewish community. It stands to reason that these descendants of Judah were descendants of David’s house, who would have naturally been the leaders of the Babylonian community, in fulfillment of God’s promise to David that authority would always rest in his descendants.

There is also a chronological work, Seder Olam Zutta (an anonymous text from the early Middle Ages), which lists 39 generations of Exilarchs beginning with Jehoiachin. One of the commentators to Chronicles, the Vilna Gaon, states that the first one was Elionai of I Chronicles 3:23.

The position of Exilarch lasted for many centuries. The Reish Galuta is mentioned quite often in the Talmud. As can be expected, some were quite learned themselves, some deferred to the rabbis for religious matters, while some, especially in the later years, fought them and their authority tooth and nail.

Exilarchs existed well into the Middle Ages, throughout the period of the early medieval scholars known as the Gaonim. The last ones known to history was Hezekiah, who was killed in 1040 by the Babylonian authorities, although he was believed to have had sons who escaped to Iberia. There are likewise later historical references to descendants of the Exilarchs, especially in northern Spain (Catelonia) and southern France (Provence).

Beyond that, there is no concrete evidence as to the whereabouts of King David’s descendants. Supposedly, the great French medieval sage Rashi (R. Shlomo Yitzchaki) traced his lineage to King David, although on a maternal line. (In addition, Rashi himself had only daughters.) The same is said of Rabbi Yehuda Loewe of Prague (the Maharal). Since Ashkenazi Jews are so interrelated, this is a tradition, however dubious today, shared by many Ashkenazi Jews.

In any event, we do not need be concerned today how the Messiah son of David will be identified. He will be a prophet, second only to Moses. God Himself will select him and appoint him to his task. And he himself, with his Divine inspiration, will resolve all other matters of Jewish lineage (Maimonides Hilchot Melachim 12:3).

Yahrtzeit of Kalonymus Z. Wissotzky, a famous Russian Jewish philanthropist who died in 1904. Wissotzky once owned the tea concession for the Czar's entire military operation. Since the Czar's soldiers numbered in the millions and tea drinking was a daily Russian custom, this concession made Wissotzky very rich. One day, Wissotzky was approached by the World Zionist Organization to begin a tea business in Israel. He laughed at this preposterous idea: the market was small, the Turkish bureaucracy was strict, and tea leaves from India were too costly to import. Jewish leaders persisted, and Wissotzky started a small tea company in Israel. After his death, the tea company passed to his heirs. Then in 1917, the communists swept to power in Russia, seizing all of the Wissotzky company's assets. The only business left in their possession was the small tea company in Israel. The family fled Russia, built the Israeli business, and today Wissotzky is a leading brand of tea in Israel, with exports to countries worldwide -- including Russia.

Building by youth may be destructive, while when elders dismantle, it is constructive (Nedarim 40a).

It seems paradoxical, but it is true. We make the most important decisions of our lives when we are young and inexperienced, and our maximum wisdom comes at an age when our lives are essentially behind us, and no decisions of great moment remain to be made.

While the solution to this mystery eludes us, the facts are evident, and we would be wise to adapt to them. When we are young and inexperienced, we can ask our elders for their opinion and then benefit from their wisdom. When their advice does not coincide with what we think is best, we would do ourselves a great service if we deferred to their counsel.

It may not be popular to champion this concept. Although we have emerged from the era of the `60s, when accepting the opinion of anyone over thirty was anathema, the attitude of dismissing older people as antiquated and obsolete has-beens who lack the omniscience of computerized intelligence still lingers on.

Those who refuse to learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them. We would do well to swallow our youthful pride and benefit from the teachings of the school of experience.

Today I shall...

seek advice from my elders and give more serious consideration to deferring to their advice when it conflicts with my desires.

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